Take Five
; re-released May 22, 1961 | Format = 7" 45rpm | Recorded = July 1, 1959 CBS 30th Street Studio, New York | Genre = West Coast cool jazz | Length = (single version) (album version) | Label = Columbia | Writer = Paul Desmond (composer) | Producer = Teo Macero | Certification = | Chronology = |Last single = "Jazz Impressions of Eurasia" (1958) |This single = "Take Five" (1959) |Next single = "Camptown Races / Short'nin' Bread" (1959) | Misc = }} "Take Five" is a jazz piece composed by Paul Desmond and originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for its 1959 album ''Time Out''. Made at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio in New York City on July 1, 1959, two years later it became an unlikely hit and the biggest-selling jazz single ever. Appearing since on numerous movie and television soundtracks, today it still receives significant radio play. "Take Five" was for several years during the early 1960s the theme music for the NBC Today TV program, which played the opening bars half a dozen times or more each day. Written in the key of E-flat minor, the piece is known for its distinctive two-chordE m / B m7 piano vamp, catchy blues-scale saxophone melody, inventive, jolting drum solo,Featured on the album version but not on the single. and unusual quintuple ( ) time, from which its name is derived. Brubeck drew inspiration for this style of music during a U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia, where he observed a group of Turkish street musicians performing a traditional folk song with supposedly Bulgarian influences that was played in time (traditionally called "Bulgarian meter"), rarely used in Western music. After learning from native symphony musicians about the form, Brubeck was inspired to create an album that deviated from the usual time of jazz and experimented with the exotic styles he had experienced abroad. Although released as a single initially on September 21, 1959, the chart potential of "Take Five" was fulfilled only after its re-release in May 1961, reaching #25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on October 9 that year and #5 on ''Billboard'''s Easy Listening chart three weeks later. The single is a different recording than the LP version and omits most of the drum solo.Soundtrack to a Century - Jazz: The Definitive Performances liner notes by Phil Schaap, producer (1999, Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia/Legacy J2K 65807) The piece was also chosen to promote Columbia's ill-fated attempt to introduce rpm stereo singles into the marketplace, in 1959. Along with a unique stereo edit of "Blue Rondo à la Turk", it was pressed in very small numbers as part of a promotional set of records sent to DJs in late 1959. The Dave Brubeck Quartet first played "Take Five" to a live audience at the Village Gate nightclub in New York City in 1959 . Over the next 50 years it was re-recorded many times, and was often used by the group to close concerts: each member, upon completing his solo, would leave the stage as in Haydn's Farewell Symphony until only the drummer remained ("Take Five" having been written to feature Joe Morello's mastery of time). Some of the many cover versions feature lyrics co-written by Dave Brubeck and his wife Iola, including a 1961 live recording sung by Carmen McRae backed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Al Jarreau performed an unusual scat singing version of the piece in Germany in 1976. Desmond, upon his death in 1977, left the performance royalties for his compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross,Ted GIOIA, The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire, 27/09/2012Gene LEES, Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White, 09/01/2001 which has since received combined royalties of approximately $100,000 a year. Personnel * Dave Brubeck – piano * Paul Desmond – alto saxophone * Eugene Wright – bass * Joe Morello – drums Structure "Take Five" is played in E minor in time (mainly 4 quarter notes and 2 sixteenth notes interrupted by rests). The music piece can be decomposed into 10 dinstinct parts Richard J. Lawn, Experiencing Jazz, Routledge, 20 mars 2013 :Austin Lee Barnes, Analysis of selected percussion literature: Concerto for vibraphone and orchestra by Ney Rosauro, Surface tension by Dave Hollinden, Urban sketches for percussion trio by Lon W. Chaffin, Take five by Paul Desmond, and DT supreme by Austin Barnes, Kansas State University, 2012 The highest note of a few motives is often accented (See "Section B" on the fifth and "Section solo 1"). Cover versions The piece has been a staple of jazz and pop music since it was first released. More than 40 cover versions have been recorded, as early as Carmen McRae's cover in 1961 on an album titled Take Five Live. Recordings have been released by artists known for playing jazz (Al Jarreau, George Benson), country (Chet Atkins), bluegrass (the String Cheese Incident) and pop (Stevie Wonder), as well as from artists in many different countries. In 1972, singer Don Partridge wrote lyrics to "Take Five" sung to the saxophone melody, and regularly performed the song in live stage performances and when street-busking throughout Europe.Stewart Partridge, brother In 2011, a version by Pakistan's Sachal Studios Orchestra won widespread acclaim and charted highly on American and British jazz charts. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/05/pakistan-musicians-top-western-charts-jazz Cultural references * A version of the piece was the title theme in the video game Chessmaster for the Nintendo Entertainment System. * The character John Constantine played a vinyl recording of the piece in the film Constantine. * The song is heavily sampled in "Don't Take Five (Take What You Want)" by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu.Audio comparison at Whosampled References Category:1950s jazz standards Category:Cool jazz standards Category:Jazz compositions Category:1959 songs Category:1959 singles Category:1961 singles Category:Jazz compositions in E-flat minor Category:Columbia Records singles Category:The Specials songs Category:Al Jarreau songs